IlyaP Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 On 5/3/2019 at 12:00 PM, Triskele said: Hoping it continues to be strong cause I could really use a new series to get excited about. Because then you'll be able to legitimately say that you're "seriesly excited" about it! Sorry, I'll see myself out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 I just finished The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft which I really enjoyed. The series seems to be going on strong. Next up I think I'm going to read The Poppy War by RF Kuang although I was a little disturbed to discover she was born in 1996 when I looked her up to see if the next book in the series is out. People born after the early '90s being adults with successful careers and stuff is a worrying development on the depressing appreciation of my own mortality front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luzifer's right hand Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 I finished Perhelion Summer by Greg Egan a week ago. Pretty down to earth stuff by his standards and I do not enjoy it that much. Afterwards I read A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine in one day. This one I enjoyed a lot and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. During a long train ride I read The Invincible by Stanisław Lem in a German translation. Parts of it have not aged well but I still enjoyed it. It is not Solaris or His Masters Voice though. Right now I'm reading Edge by Linda Nagata. I'm happy that she returned The Nanotech Succession setting and excited to learn more about that world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 I read Mark Lawrence's Red Sister and Grey Sister in a couple days, and I'm halfway through Holy Sister now. Really great stuff. I've also been reading Dan Abnett's first omnibus of Gaunt's Ghosts books and short stories. I generally stay away from licensed universe fiction, especially Warhammer 40k which has some notoriously bad authors, but Abnett is one of the rare 40k authors that is legitimately decent. I'm about to have a 10 day stretch where I will have tons of free time and very little to do besides read, so I've picked up Trial of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse, Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft, and Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames. I haven't started any of them yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 I enjoyed an Adrian Tchaikovsky novella, Walking to Aldebaran. I'm not sure where my reading adventures will take me next... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luzifer's right hand Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 I started reading Doomsday Game (The Apocalypse Duology Book 3) by Gary Gibson. I enjoyed the first two books quite a bit and this one seems fun too. I read each book thinking it was the last book but not this time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 I'd been reading Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet, but got interrupted by this hugely engaging gem of a book: The Econocracy: On the Perils of Leaving Economics to the Experts by Joe Earle, Cahal Moran, Zach Ward-Perkins. Am also annotating it as I read it, with public notes on Goodreads, for anyone who uses that wonderful platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaßvogel Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Currently reading Andrew Vachss' "Burke" series. I remember James Ellroy commenting on how he found Vachss to be an inspiration. Vachss started writing novels because he wanted to address issues in a medium that could reach as many people as possible. The books are a pretty good commentary on the white-knight genre of detective fiction, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 I finally finished Dragonfly Falling (book 2 of Shadows of the Apt). It was a bit of a slog to be honest. I'm not sure if I'll continue the series; I definitely don't feel like picking up book 3 right away. I am starting on China Rich Girlfriend now (the sequel to Crazy Rich Asians), as it became available at the library. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Spaßvogel said: Andrew Vacchs' "Burke" series These books? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_(series) They sound...really intense. How are you finding them thus far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Crows Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Currently reading one non-fiction, Creative Quest by QuestLove, and one fiction, Slade House by David Mitchell. Next on the docket is tackling the beast that is Sandman by Neil Gaiman... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaßvogel Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 2 hours ago, IlyaP said: These books? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_(series) They sound...really intense. How are you finding them thus far? Some of them are very intense. Vachss is a fascinating character, and he freely admits that Burke is an analog of himself for the most part. Burke is a criminal through and through and while he has a code, he also is very flawed and fallible. The first book or two are a bit pulpy tonally in places, but they get more hardcore realistic after that. There is one book about midway through the series that has long, almost academic explanations of a lawyer's theories about false abuse claims by adults and it drags on and on. Some novels contain non-fiction essays after the story concludes. One thing I admire about this series is that continuity and consequences are huge. Stuff that happens in early books resonates through the others. Some of the things even fade away as the character finally moves on. It's a bit fascinating to binge read them because you can really notice it happening. Anyway, I'm up to the 13th book in the series, and it's been interesting ride. Another long crime series I'd read was the Matthew Scudder series by Lawrence Block. It started in the late 70s and continued up until 2011 (although a new book may be coming out). Vachss is about 50 times as gritty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 I'm reading The Stars My Destination. So far it's been a pretty fun read, particularly in the opening stanzas. But Gully Foyle is a bit of a dud of a protagonist. I also read Talking To My Country, by high-profile Australian journalist Stan Grant. This is a fairly grim and dispiriting autobiographical piece, but worth reading if you are interested in the modern-day plight of Aboriginal Australians. Meanwhile I have put The Dragonbone Chair on hold. It isn't a bad read by any stretch of the imagination, but it's so slooooooow. On 5/3/2019 at 12:00 PM, Triskele said: I'm about 40% through Black Leopard Red Wolf, and I'm really enjoying it. I know that when James called it an African Game of Thrones it's debatable how serious he was. I'd say that if someone called it an African Book of the New Sun that would be a really apt comparison (structurally, not in the sci-fi v. fantasy sense). Hoping it continues to be strong cause I could really use a new series to get excited about. Will be interested to read your verdict on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aldric Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Current Non-Fiction Read: Nelson: A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert Current Fiction Read: Cibola Burn by James S. A. Corey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady narcissa Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 On 5/8/2019 at 10:18 PM, Starkess said: I am starting on China Rich Girlfriend now (the sequel to Crazy Rich Asians), as it became available at the library. I enjoyed that series when I read it last year in a it was a light and fun sort of way. I especially enjoyed all the food and the architecture amidst all the frivolity with the shopping and clothes. I just finished All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders. I somehow missed hearing anything about it when it came out - or it just blew right over me because I somehow saved my electronic copy of it from my Hugo packet that year but failed to notice it until this week when I finally read it. It is one weird ass book. All over the place. I felt like I began reading a Maggie Stiefvater novel that side detoured into a 80s teen movie before moving into Lev Grossman Magicians land before ending up in the last season of Person of Interest. I like all those things but they don't work together in a single novel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Almost finished my Fitz re-read. Then planning a re-read of Gemmell's Rigante quartet, the Greatcloaks series (first time to read book 4), and thr Kitty Jay books. Then maybe a Malazan re-read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 21 hours ago, Paxter said: Talking To My Country Oh my glom. I'd not heard about this guy until you mentioned him (I'm not from Australia originally): "Years ago I wrote a novel in the voice of an Indigenous boy. It was not met well by Indigenous writers. I thought, then, anybody could speak for anyone else. They didn't think this. And they were right. Some stories are so cruelly intimate they can only be told by the people in them. The story of black Australia, told from the white side, lacks the blood and violin notes that are essential for the truth. Sometimes a story must be told by the victim to be told truly. This is why Victim Impact Statements are now included in criminal trials." A writer who's thinking about the consequences and dignity of point of view! And he learns from his mistakes! He's a real boy, Geppetto! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teng Ai Hui Posted May 11, 2019 Share Posted May 11, 2019 I just finished a reread of The Passage by Justin Cronin and immediately jumped into book 2 of the series called The Twelve. I have a love-hate relationship with this series. I enjoy the plot, but it often advances at a snail's pace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ESPOMAN Posted May 11, 2019 Share Posted May 11, 2019 Figured I would read Psycho by Robert Bloch as it is probably my favorite movie. It was good it was a rather quick read. The movie is very faithful to it. The biggest difference is probably Norman's appearance and a couple minor ones too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted May 11, 2019 Share Posted May 11, 2019 6 hours ago, IlyaP said: Oh my glom. I'd not heard about this guy until you mentioned him (I'm not from Australia originally): "Years ago I wrote a novel in the voice of an Indigenous boy. It was not met well by Indigenous writers. I thought, then, anybody could speak for anyone else. They didn't think this. And they were right. Some stories are so cruelly intimate they can only be told by the people in them. The story of black Australia, told from the white side, lacks the blood and violin notes that are essential for the truth. Sometimes a story must be told by the victim to be told truly. This is why Victim Impact Statements are now included in criminal trials." A writer who's thinking about the consequences and dignity of point of view! And he learns from his mistakes! He's a real boy, Geppetto! Might be worth clarifying that the above quote is not attributable to Grant. Grant is Aboriginal, the author of the article that contains the above quote (Anson Cameron) is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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